Everything is becoming 'Instant'

Everything has become ‘Instant’ these days, and I’m not just spinning the proverbial coffee metaphor here.

Take Internet Dating for example, you upload a profile, do a search based on what you would like to see in a person, shortlist the ones you prefer, send them a quick note and it could be a matter of days before your first date! And if you are lucky enough to line the dates up for a few months, you’re bound to find someone you have some chemistry with.

This sort of condensed timing could normally take people years to reach the same result.

But of course it’s not that simple, there are always limitations to the ‘instant’. The first being that pictures hide chemistry, so you may think you’ve shortlisted the best, but you could have excluded people you would like had you met them in person, and you lessen your choices. The mere act of short listing means you’re already judging a book by its cover. After a while you realise you keep choosing the same kind of guy and it doesn’t work, and your dating life starts getting a cheap coffee after-taste, unless of course all you want is a few no-strings-attached dates pretty quickly.

And then there’s online shopping, one click ordering makes it literally a touch of a button to your selection and your order is paid for and delivered. But try returning goods that look a whole lot different from the pictures and it’s certainly not a single-clicker.

The same goes for online job and home searches, new-restaurant bookings and fast food deliveries.

In the world of virtual purchases, is it true that all we really need, is a photo and some information, to make a good decision?

And if we make our choices this way, are we deciding to choose speed and efficiency over the kind of quality and attachment that comes from experiencing something beforehand and the certainty that it is what you want?